Posts by Clayton Henkel

Hurricane relief, the Carolina Comeback, HB2 and coal ash were just some of the topics the three men vying to be North Carolina’s governor covered in their final debate.

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory found himself having to revisit a 2012 debate answer, in which he vowed that he would not enact any additional restrictions on abortion.

Tuesday night, McCrory tried to explain his decision to later approve a 72-hour waiting period on abortions. The governor said that decision ultimately prevented greater restrictions on women from the state House and Senate.

Democrat Roy Cooper suggested that McCrory reneged on his pledge to women and could not be trusted.

With early voting beginning this week, Wake County voters will have a chance to decide on a $2.3 Billion transit plan to relieve congestion and dramatically improve public transportation over the next decade. Here are five fast facts about the initiative from the good folks at Moving Wake County Forward:

#1 – Wake County grows by 64 people every day. A modern, public transportation system that reduces traffic congestion will grow the economy and provide new and better transportation options for everyone.

# 2 – All towns will have new or expanded express bus service, and several communities will have commuter rail access as well. Some towns have no bus service today. Wake County Commissioner Sig Hutchinson tells Policy Watch the plan will be ‘transformational.’

#3 – 50% of all homes and 70% of all jobs will be within 1/2 mile of a transit stop.

#4 – The 10-year plan is conservatively projected to cost $2.3 billion. The Wake County portion is around 50% of total costs; the federal portion is about 25%, with the balance coming from debt financing, farebox revenue, and other sources.

After years of complaints of paltry spending on public education in North Carolina, public school leaders say they may soon be facing another round of devastating cuts.

School officials say a late August memo from Gov. Pat McCrory’s chief budget officer signals that all state departments, including the public schools, must soon present options for a 2 percent cut in their 2017-2019 budget, roughly a $173 million loss for North Carolina schools. [Continue reading…]

Payton McGarry wants to serve his country – and this time around, his country wants him. In high school McGarry was part of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. He dreamed of joining the Marine Corps. But while the corps is always looking for a few good men, McGarry was a young transgender man – and therefore ineligible for service. [Continue reading…]

Gov. Pat McCrory has indicated in a court filing seeking legislative privilege that he had more to do with the preparation and introduction of House Bill 2 than he previously let on.

In a speech a little over a month ago, McCrory claimed the North Carolina Chamber helped write part of the state’s all-purpose LGBT discrimination law. The lobby group, however, has denied participating in suggesting, drafting or reviewing HB2. [Continue reading…]

Access to affordable postsecondary education is important to building a workforce in North Carolina that attracts and retains good-paying jobs across the state. Around two out of every three jobs in the state will require some form of post-secondary education by the year 2020. Our state can meet this challenge, but only if we make sure that more people can access and complete these programs. And the biggest barrier to this remains the unaffordability of post-secondary education.

Unfortunately, in recent years, North Carolina has fallen short on the higher education affordability front. [Continue reading…]

For a lot of caring and thinking people, the end of the current election cycle cannot come fast enough. Especially, of course, at the presidential level, there is a palpable sense shared by tens of millions of Americans that what they are watching simply can’t be happening. Even a few years ago, the notion that the contest for the most important elected office on the planet would descend into a debate over one candidate’s recorded discussion of sexual behavior and promise to jail his opponent if elected was unimaginable.

All that said (and as excruciating as the 2016 campaign has been), there are some important lessons that progressives may want to consider when it comes to the national policy debate – especially from their conservative adversaries. [Continue reading…]

The Charlotte Observer’s Taylor Batten has an amazing account of Republican Richard Vinroot speaking out on the motivation behind voter ID.

Vinroot, a respected Republican who served as Charlotte’s mayor from 1991–1995 and made three unsuccessful runs for governor, was asked about voter fraud and the need for voter ID at a Charlotte business lunch on Wednesday.

We’ll let Batten take the story from there:

Richard Vinroot

Vinroot said there have been instances of voter fraud over the years, and he cited Lyndon Johnson’s election to the U.S. Senate and John F. Kennedy’s election to president in 1960. But…

“But it’s clearly about Republicans trying to curtail that voter, there’s no secret about that.

“There’s no doubt there’s some gaming going on on both sides. There’s no doubt the folks who don’t want voter ID are more interested in Democratic voters voting without regard to whether they can identify themselves or not. But you’d be hard-pressed probably today to say all these things (voting restrictions) are justified.”

Kudos to Vinroot for speaking the truth, even if it steps on the toes of most in his own party.

Governor Pat McCrory and Attorney General Roy Cooper wasted little time Tuesday evening in getting down to a heated exchange over North Carolina’s brand, and the need to repeal the anti-LGBT law known as HB2.